Championship leader Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was eighth, with David Coulthard 12th for Red Bull and world champion Michael Schumacher 13th in the Ferrari.

The new 5.3km Istanbul Otodrom is one of only three circuits on the Formula One calendar which run anticlockwise.

It is a nice track, a unique circuit and a success

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher

The drivers' previous experience of it had been on computer simulators and video games, and De la Rosa was the first out as the teams began work on their set-ups for Sunday's race.

By the end of the session, all 25 drivers had completed a timed run as the need to learn the track took priority above the desire to conserve their engines.

De la Rosa's lap of 1:27.882 put him 0.571 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, who won the last race in Hungary.

Several drivers made mistakes, with Schumacher spinning his Ferrari across the gravel at turn 12 late in the session.

Mark Webber also took to the gravel in his Williams after running wide, Liuzzi lost control at turn eight, Nick Heidfeld's Williams went off at turn one and Rubens Barrichello spun his Ferrari at turn three.

Montoya went quicker than Raikkonen in the second session, the Colombian's lap of 1:26.525 almost a second slower than the benchmark set by Zonta with his final lap of the day.